Age and growth of endangered smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) verified with LA-ICP-MS analysis of vertebrae

Endangered smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were opportunistically sampled in south Florida and aged by counting opaque bands in sectioned vertebrae (n=15). Small sample size precluded traditional age verification, but fish collected in spring and summer had translucent vertebrae margins, whil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-10, Vol.7 (10), p.e47850-e47850
Main Authors: Scharer, Rachel M, Patterson, 3rd, William F, Carlson, John K, Poulakis, Gregg R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Aging - physiology
Animals
Biology
Calcium
Calcium - metabolism
Carcharhinus leucas
Carcharhinus plumbeus
Chemical analysis
Conservation
Endangered & extinct species
Endangered Species
Estuaries
Female
Fish
Florida
Geography
Habitats
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Lamna nasus
Laser ablation
Lasers
Male
Mass spectrometry
Mass Spectrometry - methods
Mass spectroscopy
Nursery grounds
Phosphorus - metabolism
Pristidae
Pristis microdon
Pristis pectinata
Pristis pristis
Protection and preservation
Salinity
Skates (Fish) - growth & development
Smalltooth sawfish
Spectrophotometry, Atomic - methods
Spine - anatomy & histology
Spine - growth & development
Strontium
Strontium - metabolism
Trends
Urobatis halleri
Vertebrae
Wildlife conservation
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Description
Summary:Endangered smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were opportunistically sampled in south Florida and aged by counting opaque bands in sectioned vertebrae (n=15). Small sample size precluded traditional age verification, but fish collected in spring and summer had translucent vertebrae margins, while fish collected in winter had opaque margins. Trends in Sr:Ca measured across vertebrae with laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry corresponded well to annual salinity trends observed in sawfish estuarine nursery habitats in south Florida, thus serve as a chemical marker verifying annual formation of opaque bands. Based on that finding and assumptions about mean birth date and timing of opaque band formation, estimated age ranged from 0.4 y for a 0.60 m total length (TL) male to 14.0 y for a 4.35 m TL female. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters computed from size at age data were 4.48 m for L(∞), 0.219 y(-1)for k, and -0.81 y for t(0). Results of this study have important implications for sawfish conservation as well as for inferring habitat residency of euryhaline elasmobranchs via chemical analysis of vertebrae.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0047850